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No evidence of transfusion transmitted sporadic Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease: results from a bi‐national cohort study
Author(s) -
Holmqvist Jacob,
Wikman Agneta,
Pedersen Ole Birger Vesterager,
Nielsen Kaspar René,
Rostgaard Klaus,
Hjalgrim Henrik,
Edgren Gustaf
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1111/trf.15751
Subject(s) - medicine , dementia , cohort , disease , blood transfusion , cohort study , retrospective cohort study , creutzfeldt jakob syndrome , pediatrics , transmission (telecommunications) , population , intensive care medicine , prion protein , environmental health , electrical engineering , engineering
BACKGROUND Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (CJD) is an uncommon, invariably fatal, neurodegenerative disorder that presents as progressive dementia with concurrent motor symptoms and myoclonia. The pathophysiology involves prion protein misfolding and spreading in a self‐catalyzed manner. It has been shown to be transmissible through tissue transplants. Variant CJD (vCJD), a subtype of the disease is also transmissible through transfusion of blood products. This study aims to corroborate the scarce data that suggest that sporadic CJD (sCJD) is not transmitted via blood transfusion. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN A retrospective cohort study was performed, using data from the bi‐national Scandinavian Donations and Transfusions (SCANDAT2) database containing data on blood donors, donations, transfusions, and transfused patients in Sweden and Denmark since 1968 and 1982, respectively. Mortality and medical data were collected from nationwide health care and population registries. Donors with subsequent CJD were identified, as well as recipients of blood products from these donors. A second analysis was performed, screening for clustering of CJD cases from donors without a CJD diagnosis. RESULTS We identified 39 donors with a subsequent diagnosis of sCJD. No cases of CJD occurred among the 883 recipients of blood products from these donors. A total of 89 CJD cases were identified among recipients of transfusions. No clustering of cases from the same donor occurred. DISCUSSION Using data from a large, bi‐national database of transfused patients, we find no evidence of sCJD transmission. Our data adds to the growing body of evidence indicating that sCJD is not transfusion transmitted.